Brioche Burgers + Brie, Caramelized Onion & Aioli

This burger is inspired by one of my favorite Indy restaurants - Petit Chou. If you're ever in Indy, you definitely need to stop by Petit Chou or Cafe Patachou. It has awesome French food, and won't disappoint. Anyway, they have a burger with Brie and house aioli, and John suggested I try to recreate it. While I wouldn't say it tastes exactly the same, it came pretty close and was nice for an at-home dinner.

This is a meal that is sure to please any man in your life. John "mmm'd" the entire time he ate this burger. He continued to call it "savory" throughout the meal, and he loved it so much that he even made the aioli the next day when he reheated the last burger. I love my hubby, but he doesn't cook. So if he loves it so much that he's willing to make it, trust me when I say it's easy and that good.

While you are welcome to use any type of bun, I highly, highly suggest using brioche buns. They are such a perfect compliment to the brie and onions. Simply toast them under the broiler for a minute or two and you will be so glad that you went this route.

Brioche Burgers + Brie, Caramelized Onion & Aioli
Recipe inspired by Petit Chou
Serves 3-4, depending on burger size and amount of beef

Ingredients:
*brioche buns (or rolls, cut in half)
*ground beef of choice (I used 90% lean ground sirloin) 
*wedge of brie, cut into slices for topping burger
*1 large onion, chopped or sliced for caramelizing
*1 tbsp butter
*1 tbsp brown sugar
*aioli (I used 2 tbsp nonfat Greek yogurt, 1 tsp light mayo, 2 minced garlic cloves, 2 tsp dijon)

Preparation:
*Preheat a grill or grill pan. Mold meat into patties. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and any desired seasoning. Place burgers on the grill and cook to your desired temperature.

*While burgers are going, place onion slices, butter and brown sugar in a pan. Cook until caramelized.

*Once burgers are finishing up, toast brioche buns under broiler for 1-2 minutes. Combine aioli ingredients.

*Serve burgers with brie slices, aioli and caramelized onion. Enjoy hot!

Cut up brie & onions | caramelizing the onions
Grilling burgers! Check out all the smoke - good thing windows were open!

Ready to dive into these bad boys :)

Brie En Croute

John and I just love Brie cheese (honestly we love most all cheese). I spent a few weeks in France after my sophomore year of high school, and I developed a love for all French food, especially the cheese!  I saw some Brie on sale at the store and decided I wanted to do something a little special for a mid-week appetizer. John was a little skeptical of me playing around with his Brie, but he absolutely loved the end result. This recipe comes from Paula Deen's The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook. I made a few modifications based on John's preference (the original called for nuts, which John isn't too fond of when mixed in dishes).  I think you'll find this is great for a weeknight appetizer or for hosting a party. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
*1 sheet frozen puff pastry
*1 small wheel of Brie (7-8 ounces, I used the "light" Brie)
*1/2 cup raspberry jam (honestly I didn't measure, I just spread!)
*1 egg, beaten

Preparation:
*Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

 *Defrost one sheet of puff pastry for about 20-40 minutes and unfold.

*Gently roll pastry with a rolling pan to increase size by about 1-2 inches. Be sure to flour surface and rolling pan! Brush both sides of the sheet with beaten egg.

*Center the wheel of Brie on top of the pastry sheet. Spread jam on top of cheese, more or less depending on your preference. Bring all four corners of the sheet together above Brie and twist slightly to form a "bundle."

*Place "bundle" on cookie sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes until pastry is golden brown. Serve with crackers.

Brie wheel on the pastry.

Egg wash - pictures are out of order, sorry!

My "bundle" before going in the oven.

Voila! So simple!